Soft sculpture creations have been popular for many generations. While they are most normally associated with young children, there is a growing worldwide market composed of serious adult collectors for unique fine handcrafted soft sculpture creations made from expensive mohair and alpaca fur fabrics.
Designs for soft sculpture creations range from the very simple to the very complicated. One of the most simple designs is made by placing two pieces of fabric cut in a pattern atop each other like pancakes and sewing them together. Body appendages are defined by the stitching that outlines the appendages. The body and the appendages are then stuffed with a variety of material inserted into small openings that are sewn shut after the stuffing is completed. No rotational movement of the head, body, or appendages is possible. Creations designed and produced in this manner generally command a lower price and are of limited appeal to serious collectors.
More complex creations require cutting out and sewing many separate pieces of material to form discrete separate body parts that must then be joined together to form the finished creation. The most desirable method of joining the head and appendages is to create actual joints that allow the arms, legs, and body to be independently rotated.
It is generally true that more complex designed soft sculpture creations made from expensive real fur fabric are more expensive and more desirable. One indicia of a good soft sculpture is careful attention to detail and precision hand sewing. Another is whether or not the creation is jointed so that the head, body and appendages may be independently rotated.
One very old and simple method of jointing is called a button joint. A body and an appendage such as an arm or leg are jointed by placing a button on the interior of the body, against the fabric, and a button on the outside of the appendage to be jointed, and sewing the buttons together, the actual joint being formed by the thread. The obvious shortcoming of this method is its fragility. The thread may eventually deteriorate, or, more likely, the arm or leg will be rotated too many times and the joint will be twisted until it breaks. This jointing method is seldom used today. There are also buttons exposed on the outside of the appendage which are not only not very aesthetical pleasing, but tempting to young children.
The most popular soft sculptures today are jointing using mechanical fasteners such as nuts and bolts. After the individual parts of the soft sculpture are sewn, small holes are made in the body which correspond to where the appendages are to be placed. Small holes are then made in each appendage. Appropriate sized washers are then placed on the inside of the body and the inside of the appendage, the holes of the washers matching up with the holes in the fabric. A bolt is then put through the holes in the washers and the holes in the fabric. A nut is then threaded on the bolt and must be tightened. This process may be very unwieldy, difficult and time consuming. It requires that the holes in the appendages and body be precisely located as mirror images of each other. If the holes are not properly placed, the appendages may not both be at the same height, the feet or the palms may be rotated differently, or one of the appendages may be placed too far forward on the body. It is also very time consuming and difficult because of the tight spaces involved and the need to get a wrench inside the interior of both the appendage and the body to tighten the nut and bolt. Due to the extra effort and expense involved, joints that are made this way are far superior to the threaded button joint.
A variation of the above-mentioned jointing is the use of pop rivets in place of the nut and bolt. The process is very similar, the only difference being the use of a pop rivet in place of the nut and bolt. The problems are also similar. The pop rivet gun that is used is large and bulky. Pop rivets are also generally unsuitable for jointing larger soft sculpture creations.
What is needed is a method of jointing soft sculpture creations that produces soft sculpture having joints that are rotatable, strong, and simple to make. Both in the very competitive market of expensive high-quality, collectible soft sculpture and the mass market high production soft sculpture sold in retail outlets at low prices, a soft sculpture creation that has rotatable joints is more readily marketable and brings a higher price.